Sri Lanka crushed Zimbabwe by nine wickets with 22 balls to spare in the fifth T20I of the tri-series in Rawalpindi courtesy of Pathum Nissanka’s brilliance with the bat.
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. They had a poor start losing two wickets within the third over. However, Brian Bennett’s two partnerships of 36 runs with Brendan Taylor and Sikandar Raza stabilized Zimbabwe’s innings. Ryan Burl’s unbeaten 37 off 26 balls lower down the order was instrumental in taking Zimbabwe to a score of 146/5 in 20 overs. Captain Sikandar Raza contributed 37 runs while Bennett scored 34 runs. For Sri Lanka, Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga took two wickets each.
In reply, Sri Lanka had a blazing start as their openers Nissanka and Kamil Mishara added 59 off 34 balls. Mishara got caught by Wellington Masakadza off Brad Evans after scoring 12. Whereas Nissanka kept on playing his shots and with Kusal Mendis, stitched an unbeaten partnership of 89 off 64 balls, ensuring Sri Lanka achieved the target without anymore dismissals. In the end, Nissanka missed his century by just two runs. His innings came in 58 balls, including 11 fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 168.97. The right-handed batter was adjudged the Player of the Match. Sri Lanka has to win their last match against Pakistan to qualify for the final.
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